7. Being John Malkovich (1999)
Most people describe Being John Malkovich as a black comedy, or surreal comedy, but it also has very disturbing undertones. Craig Schwartz is a struggling artist/puppeteer, who while working as a file clerk discovers a doorway into the mind of actor John Malkovich. He is persuaded to sell 15 minute trips into Malkovichs mind by his manipulative co-worker, Maxine, whom hes become desperately in love with. Craigs wife, Lotte, eventually takes the trip which releases repressed feelings of sexual confusion within her. The film, which could not have been made without the great John Malkovich, is a surreal trip into the insecurities, repressed emotions, and obsessions of a suffering artist, Craig Schwartz, and his wife Lotte. Why It's A Gem: The film manages to balance a plot, through an impressive use of structure, involving a portal into the mind of John Malkovich, a love triangle involving four people, ideas of trading identity for love and acceptance, and obsession as an expression of self-loathing. The film manages these imaginative devices all while dealing with themes of isolation, entrapment, and lingering trauma within each character, even the chimpanzee.